Wishing You a Year of Adventures

Hi everyone.

So January is just about  history. Only a few hours  to go and February will be here.

And I am excited to say I did it. I had a goal to link up a page every day during my month long term as hostess for Art Journal Journey.

Thirty-one pages. Thirty one adventures.

And before I get too wrapped up in my own success, I want to once again thank Susi and Elizabeth for having me as hostess.

And I also want to send out a HUGE thank you to all of you who linked up and joined in the fun. Your adventures were amazing and inspiring. I enjoyed visiting all your pages and all the adventures you shared. :) And to those of you who were new to AJJ, it was wonderful to meet you!
Thanks for being part of the fun.

And so my final journal page is my wish for you in 2018.

I hope you have a year with all kinds of good adventures.

T Stands for Dining Adventures

Happy T Day ladies. Tuesday has arrived so it is time to share a drink related post over at    Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog .       

So for T Day today I have a delicious meal to share with you.

Last Saturday was a beautiful day so the hubby and I took a road trip to the beach.. You can read about it here;Here We Go ON a Weekend Adventure.

When we finally left the beach, it was 2:30 in the afternoon and we hadn't had any lunch.We were starving. So instead of getting on the highway and heading home we drove through the coastal business district until we passed a place that looked good to us.

One of the places we came upon was an Italian restaurant. Now a friend of mine had just told me a few days earlier that it was her favorite Italian restaurant. They had a lunch menu (even though it was past lunch time) and we were feeling adventurous, so we decided to try it.

It's Ronaldo's in North Hampton, New Hampshire.

 The place was open but other than one other couple, the place was empty. Of course it was 3:15 in the afternoon, past lunch time and not quite dinner time. It had a cute decor though.

 We decided we might as well have an early dinner since even if we had lunch, we wouldn't want dinner until midnight anyhow.

So I ordered the Italian meatloaf. It came with bread, a side salad and of course, pasta.

I also had water and a Diet Coke.

 Oh my goodness. It was huge.

 But it was delicious. I think that marinara sauce was one of the best I had ever had. And the meatloaf wasn't too shabby either.

Here's the doggy bag with my left overs. It  feels like it weighs about 5 pounds. My hubby and I had some of them for dinner one night and there's still enough for me to fill 3 containers for my lunch at work. :)

And I have a new page for Art Journal Journey. For one more day the theme is New Year: New Adventures.  Then it will be February and time for a new theme.

My page today not only celebrates adventure but since I was thinking about Valentine's Day and all the hearts I have seen on various blogs lately, it celebrates the adventures of love and relationships.

This page looks better in real life than in my photo. I made my heart from left over Christmas ribbon, as well as a bit of stitching, some paper tape and some stickers. My background is a collage of various papers.

Thanks for visiting my blog and wishing you all a Happy T Day.

It's My Life

Hi everyone.

Monday is here again.  Another new week. Hopefully for me this week won't have much snow or ice and lots of sunshine. Winter weather is getting old by late January. :)

So today my entry  for Art Journal Journey is this mixed media piece. It was quite an adventure to make it, and that works with this month's theme New Year: New Adventures.

I began using a red pastel and coloring a piece of watercolor paper. I sprayed the page with water and then used an old credit cards to scrap the page and give it more of a sprayed effect. (Thanks for that suggestion too Susi.) Then a added a few strips of red origami paper. 

I used some darker red paint and a stencil to add some texture details. I also used the end of  a tape roll and red paint to add some circles.

Once dry, I added lots of paper bits including that beautiful bird which came out of a magazine.  Then when those were dry I added some final touches- little felt hearts, a cardboard star, paper triangles to make a bunting, some fabric daisies, a little gemstone heart and finally some sticker letters.

And I also have a few more photos from my trip to Salisbury Beach Saturday to share with you. CJ you might even recognize some of these views!

 Look at all the ducks slipped around on the ice. Not sure what yummy morsels were there that they eating.

It was a good weekend for me.  Hope yours was too. Thanks for visiting, and happy start of your week.

Here We Go On an a Weekend Adventure

Hi everyone. Sunday has arrived and as usual the weekend flies right by.  But it is the last weekend of January. Even though New Years seems a long time ago, it still doesn't feel like it is possible the month is close to winding down.

We are having a 2 day warm up and I am happy it falls during the weekend for once. I really need to vacuum dog hair out of my car. It looks I have fur seats.:) That is the first thing on my agenda today.

So yesterday the hubby and I went out for a little road trip on a snowy owl hunt. Snowy owls live on the tundra in the Arctic, but when winters are bad they fly south and find similar environments to visit for a bit. The seacoast area is perfect for them because when you get near the water there aren't many trees and it's flat. 

Some years not many owls fly so far south, but this year is suppose to be a good owl year. 

So we went to see if we could find one.

The sad news is we didn't see a single owl.

But the good news is we had a great walk on the beach.

The dogs were very excited to get to go for a walk too. That's my hubby with the dogs but I don't know who that woman is who stepped into the photo.

We saw 4 horses walking on the beach too. Here are 2 of them.

In fact it was quite crowded on the beach. Lots of people and lots of dogs.

But not so crowded it was hard to walk.

 In one area the sand had this cool bumpy texture.

 And up along the dunes there was still some snow.

This photo of a wet area almost looks like it was taken from a plane window.

 And can you guess what this above photo is about?

When we got back near the parking lot 2 of the horses were there. One of them was giving off pure horse joy and rolling around in the sand.

 It was such a joyful thing to watch. He kept rolling several times . There was a photography class on the beach and they all were also snapping  photos. And lucky for them they didn't have to hold a dog leash while they snapped away.

 And finally he got up, and then he and his rider walked away.

So that was one adventure. And I have an art adventure to share also. I am linking up to Art Journal Journey and this month's theme of New Year: New Adventures.

So today I have one of my favorite pages that I made this month. I began as me cleaning of a stencil, and then using a wet baby wipe I spread a little bit of the wet paint around, leaving (for me) lots of white space. 

I added some printed tissue paper, a little paper tape and a couple of quote stamps-which all seem to feel like they belong in the background.

The TH couple look like they are ready to go out for a Sunday drive. I don't know if people do that any more, or at least I don't. I still go off for road trips though, but I'll go any day of the week that I'm able. :) But I do remember my parents talking about taking Sunday drives when they were kids, going off to visit relatives or going someplace for picnics. Is that something only my parents spoke of or was the Sunday drive a general phenomenon? That I don't know.

I have a few more beach photos I will share with you another day. And

you still have a few days left to join the adventures over at AJJ. Hope to see you there.

Let's Be Adventurers

Some days you just aren't quite sure what your adventure will be. Of course there are many possibilities.

So I took a gelli printed page and put some gesso over it to dull it down a bit, and then I added some strips of book pages.

I used this set of arrow stamps to stamp these phrases all over the page (Technique Tuesday) . I also used this suitcase and airport trolley stamp (Unity Stamps). A little coloring finishes them off. But they needed a frame.

So I gave them a bright orange one. If you are going to frame them in, then make that frame bold. And then I added a few little orange sticky dots to dress them up. Finally I used some small scalloped scissors to fancy up the edge just a bit.

This is my page for Art Journal Journey today and my link to this month's theme New Year: New Adventures.

And I had a little unexpected adventure driving into the school parking lot Thursday morning.

Not the best picture as it was taken through my car windshield but this Eastern Coyote was walking out and onto the sidewalk.
Here's a better photo I borrowed from the internet to give you a better view of these animals.

http://www.vnews.com/Getting-more--wolflike--is-the-key-to-the-future-for-coyotes-13816136

It looks like a dog, but it was definitely a coyote. Eastern coyotes are actually a hybrid of coyotes and wolves (and maybe even dogs). When I was a kid we didn't have coyotes around here at all, but in the last 45 or so years the western coyotes moved east through Canada and bred with wolves (and perhaps wolf-dog hybrids).  Then moved south down into New York and New England. I read that some people want to call them coy-wolves because of this. I've been to several lectures on them and I think it's a fascinating natural history story.
Plus it was cool to see!

I hope your weekend includes an adventure, whether it is  big or small.
Thanks for visiting.

New Classes Begin Today

New classes begin today at school. I am ready to meet my new kids. Glad it is Friday. I don't start of my classes with a big push and I get a day just to see what they are like, and then Monday we can start working.  I hope they are good groups.:)

My adventure today for Art Journal Journey is all about going to school or learning new things. I found this background in my stash of gelli prints, and I started by painting this pencil, before using a black Stabilo pencil to highlight it. I added the ruler paper tape, the TH school girl and the car, as well as the letter stickers for my quote.

I can't believe how quickly the month is winding down. It's already January 25. But there's still time for you to share an adventure with us over at AJJ.

And I hope everyone is ready for the weekend

Thanks for visiting.

Pastel Play

Hi everyone. 

Maybe you remember the box of pastels I found a few weeks back on the mark down rack at a big box craft store.

Susi told me that these pastels are made near where she lives and she gave me some excellent advice on how to use this media.

That was good because I hadn't a clue. But she told me they are great with water and that the colors stay bold and vibrant when they get wet.

And you can see here that they do stay bright.
And no brushing off either. I love the permanent brightness. Thanks Susi!
For my background
I colored and made some random patterns on some watercolor paper. Then I used a wet paintbrush and washed each color to make them more permanent.
 I took a stencil and some Martha Stewart black metallic paint and covered the entire page.
I cut the heart out of some red paper and stamped the design on it. Then I added the TH found relative couple, and stenciled the white arrow/adventure word. Once it was dry I added some old postage stamps, the stars and the stickers to finish off my quote.

This is my link today to this month's New Year: New Adventure theme Art Journal Journey. You still have another week to link up with your art adventure.
There's been so many fabulous journal pages so far!

Thanks for stopping by to visit my blog and I hope your day is going well.

The Semester Is Over

Hi everyone. Yesterday it was suppose to warm up and rain, and instead of warming up, it rained and froze. I am curious to see if our trees are still ice covered  but I need to wait for the sun to come up before I will know that. Oh this month.. It's warm, it's super cold, it's snowy, it's rainy, it's icy. It's been a fickle January for sure.

Ice or not, it's time to celebrate.

This page just didn't photograph very well, but I found this funny cat photo in a magazine and just had to use it.

These cats made me smile.

This is my latest page for Art Journal Journey and this month's  theme of New Year: New Adventure. It is meant to represent my latest life adventure which is that the first semester at school is ending today. It's been quite a journey  and time to celebrate that we made it. :) 

I think a cat party might just look like this is they weren't all wound up on catnip. 

So my page started with the magazine kitty photo. I then took a messy painted background and covered it with a Gelli printed piece of deli wrap paper.  After  I used a paper punch and made the corners a little prettier than right angles, I attached this to some dark purple paper. The yellow and silver tape makes it a bit 1980's, but the kittie's in these old school 3D glasses look a little retro.

 Finally I used some foamy yellow letters and some little sparkly gemstones.

A cat party would be an adventure, wouldn't it?

Happy Wednesday. Thanks for stopping by!

T Stands for Pre-Game Pizza

Happy Tuesday Ladies. T Day has arrived!

For Art Journal Journey and the  New Year: New Adventures challenge, I have this lovely lady on my page offering you a mug of your favorite hot drink. You never know what juicy gossip (if you like juicy gossip that is) that might be shared or what you might find out when you have a cup of tea and friendship on T Day. And finding out something new or exciting is always an adventure.

My page began with a Gelli printed background. On white paper I used a maragine cut out and a piece of carbon paper. The inked side of the carbon paper was put face down onto the white paper, and I used a pencil to trace the woman in my magazine picture. Then I colored her with paint and markers, stencil some designs onto her shirt, added a necklace, and finally fussy cut her and added her to my page.

My penmanship isn't the greatest,  so I hope you can read it. (It says: hello my friend, sit down, relax and join me for tea (or coffee).

So this past weekend my husband, myself, my daughter and her boyfriend all went to an ice hockey game that our 2 colleges were playing. Before the game we went to a local college hangout for dinner.

What's better before a sporting event than pizza and some beer.

 Dark or light, take your pick.

 And have a slice please. There's plenty to go around.

Here's the daughter and her beau. You can also see the fancy (ha!) place we ate it. I don't think this place has changed since I was in school, and it was probably no different twenty years before that.

But it was yummy and fun was had by all.

Stop by Bleubeard and Elizabeth's Blog  and see what the T Gang has been up to. And feel free to join in the fun!

Thanks for visiting.

A Little Fun Rivalry

Hi everyone. It's another Monday. Where did the weekend go to?

 Some of you who stop by often might know that this past Saturday we had a little family rivalry going on.  My husband and I (we met in college) enjoy watching our college men's ice hockey team play. We both went to the University of Maine. My daughter and her boyfriend went to our rival school, the University of New Hampshire. And this past Saturday night the 2 schools ice hockey teams played each other so the 4 of us took a little road trip up to Maine to watch the game.

Now the basis of the school rivalry goes back to 1999 and something called the Border War. It's called this because our 2 teams were playing for the National College Men's Ice Hockey Championship and the 2 states are next to each other.  At the end of regular play the teams were tied, and since a championship was at hand, they had to play until someone scored. And the University of Maine scored, giving them their second National Championship. The University of New Hampshire, still waiting to get a national championship, feels cheated out of that win. This story always creates some great hockey when the 2 teams play.

We drove up early in the day as it is  a 3.5 hour trip, and that meant  my husband and I had a little time to check out how the campus had changed in the 35 years since we graduated.

Thought I would show you a few photos.

This was painted on the floor of the bookstore, which was luckily open. It meant I could get myself a new college sweatshirt.  

None of the students were back yet from winter break as the on-campus dorms were still closed, and that made the campus really quiet and empty. (They all came back yesterday for classes starting today).

Here's a few views for you.

 

This is called the mall, and there are lots of classroom buildings all along it. On one end is the library, which is in the photo above this one. On the other end is the fieldhouse and gym.

I love the big blue M on the fieldhouse.

And here's a few other views.

 Below is a dorm I lived in and where I met my husband.

 And here's a stairwell in the Memorial Union that I went up and down about a million times.  This is where they showed movies, had a few restaurants, a bowling alley and some other social places to hang out in between classes and studying.

So the game looked like it was a sell out. The hockey team is a big attraction for locals, alumni and students. That's Maine in the white and light blue jerseys. New Hampshire is in the dark blue.

The other exciting thing was this was the 40th anniversary weekend of Maine having a hockey game.

Although not a great photo (look at that double chin!), here's my daughter on the right and me in my 40th anniversary jersey. The hubby gave me that for Christmas. We're each wearing our teams jerseys.

So first New Hampshire scored, and then Maine scored.  And then New Hampshire scored, and then Maine scored. One more time. New Hampshire scored, and then Maine scored. Final regular play score was 3-3.

So just like the national championship game in 1999, with the tie it meant we had to go into overtime. Because it is just a regular game,  overtime lasts no longer than 5 minutes or until the first team scores. The crowd was going crazy. Since we were in Maine, most of the crowd was cheering for Maine. We had 5 minutes to see who could score, and if not, then the game would end a tie.

Maine skated down towards the New Hampshire net, and then New Hampshire skated down towards the Maine net. Back and forth. Shots were hit, and the goalies were protecting their nets doing their jobs trying to keep the pucks out.

The 5 minute buzzer went off, and no one had scored!

Unlike last year, when New Hampshire won, this year it was a tie. Better than a loss, but at least no one could boast.

And it was a good game and fun was had by the 4 of us.

But a tie seems a little anticlimactic. :)

And I also have another page for Art Journal Journey and this month's challenge New Year: New Adventure.  This page has nothing to do with hockey.

Today's adventure is something I think most of us have considered at some point, changing how we look.

I painted the face and added all these little face sticker bubbles that I won over at Tag Tuesday. Aren't they great little faces? They inspired me to make this page.

One thing I still don't feel comfortable doing and that I want to practice this year is drawing faces! So that is my arty adventure.

So I have a busy week ahead. Today I told one of the teacher's I work with I would go with her to the wake for one of our students who died in a tragic sledding accident last week. I'm not looking forward to that, but I had him in class a few years ago and I have his girlfriend right now so I guess it's good to go. Besides, I know my friend wants someone to go with her, so more than anything it's good to  be a friend and go with her.

Plus this week I have end of class exams and a few other things going on. Good thing I have enough pages already made for posting to Art Journal Journey because I don't think I am going to have a lot of time to play. :(

Thanks for visiting today. Hope I didn't bore anyone.